Saturday, April 23, 2005

Malaysian law interdicts texting while driving

Malaysian Road Transport Department officers are going after the citizens who are engaging in texting sms while driving. The Malaysian law is against the use of mobile phones to send SMS while driving.

I cannot believe that people actually do that. It requires them to take a hand off the steering wheel and their eyes off the road as well,

he told the New Straits Times. The regulation came into effect after an in-depth study on the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving. The number of mobile phone users nationwide has increased from an estimated one million in 1996 to 13 million last year. Besides the drivie-textie, the use of walkie-talkies and radio telephones are forbidden while driving. Emran said those suspected of sending SMS while driving would be stopped and their phones checked.

It will be obvious if the driver had sent an SMS in the last one minute before being stopped as the 'sent' box would indicate this,

he added. Now, that’s not necessarily true. Only if the driver was alone in the car, there might be a possibility that he indeed send the message. But I think that asking people to give their mobiles for sms checking is an exaggerated measure.